powers



NITED STATES JAY W. POWERS, OF POR'IAGE, WISCONSIN,

PUMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,149, dated July 20,1880.

Application filed May 6, 1880.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAY W. PowERs, of Portage, in the county of Columbiaand State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pumps; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in pumps for forcing or drawingeither air or water and it consists in the combination of threecylinders and three pistons which are operated by the same shaft,whereby two of the pistons compress or suck the air 'or force the waterwhile the third one closes the air or watcr passage leading through allthree of the cylinders, the bottoms of the two outer cylinders beingextended beyond the end or bottom of the central one.

It still further consists in placing a spring in the smaller cylinderson top of the pistons, so that after these pistons have been alternatelyraised to the full length of their stroke they are suddenly depressed,so as not only to force the air or water from their cylinders, but toclose the water-passages.

\Vhile this pump will force air or water alike,- it is intended moreespecially for an air-pump for exhausting air both from solid and fluidbodies of all kinds, and for forming more perfeet vacuums in vessels ofall kinds than has heretofore been possible.

Another object of my invention has been to make the pistons take theplace of the ordinary valves, so that the extent of the vacuum beingformed will not depend upon the operation of the air, as has heretoforebeen the case in all of the air-pumps now in use.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of my invention. Fig.2 is an end view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is .a vertical section of a modification of myinvention.

,A represents a suitable base, upon which t-h large cylinder B,'and thetwo small ones 0, are rigidly secured. These three cylinders may bearany desired relation to each other in size, and may either be placed ina line, as here (No model.)

shown, or may be arranged in any other form that may be preferred. Thebottom of each of these smaller cylinders O is placed on a lower planethan that of the bottom of the large cylinder B, and the air and waterpassages D, which extend through all three of the cylinders, passthrough the two smaller cylinders below the level of the bottom of thecylinder B. In each of these cylinders is placed a closely-fittingair-tight piston, of any desired construction, and each one of thesepistons is connected to the same operating-shaft E by means of suitablepiston-rods.

In each one of the smaller cylinders G, and upon the top of the piston,are placed suitable springs F, which are compressed as the pistons areraised upward, and then, after the pistons have been raised upward tothe full length of their stroke and then released, these springssuddenly force the pistons downward to the bottoms of the cylinders, soas not only to force out any air or water which may be in them, but toclose the air-passages air and water tight.

The operating-shaft E has a crank, H, formed in its center for operatingthe-piston in the large cylinder B, and a cam, I, upon each of its endsfor operating the two pistons in the two small cylinders O, which camsare turned in opposite directions, so as to operate the two pistonsalternately. The upper ends of the two piston-rods, connected to thepistons in the two smaller cylinders C, have their upper ends slottedfor any suitable length, so as not only to allow the cams to revolve inthe openings, but to allow the shaft E to be turned any distance desiredin raising the piston in the large cylinder B without affecting eitherone of the pistons in the small cylinders O. The distance which thisshaft shall move without affecting the pistons in the smaller cylinderswill, of course, be proportioned to the relative sizes of the threecylinders.

Instead of the operating-crank or other mo- I tive power being applieddirectly to the shaft E itself, the shaft may be provided with suitablegear-wheels, which may form the crank for the piston and the cylinder B,and these wheels receive their motive power from a drivingshaft which isprovided with suitable drivingpinions for meshing with the wheels, whichdriving-shaft may be journaled in the same frame-work which supports theshaft E, or in a separate and independent frame of its own.

I lay no special claim to the mechanism here shown for operating thethree cylinders, for this may be varied at will and any suitable deviceapplied for this purpose. Either the mechanism here shown may be used,or any other one that may be preferred for accomplishing the samepurpose.

The crank and the two cams are placed in such relation to each otherthat as the piston in the central cylinder, B, is being raised, one ofthe pistons in one of the smaller cylinders is being raised at the sametime, while the piston in the other cylinder (3 remains in the bottom ofits cylinder. As this piston in the cylinder 13 and the one in thecylinder 0 are being raised upward they form a vacuum in their cylindersfor the purpose of drawing the air or water from any vessel, cask, orbody to which they may be connected, and then, just as the piston in thecylinder B has, or has about, reached the full length of its upwardstroke, the small piston, which was raised upward with it at the sametime, is suddenly released from its can], and the spring F in thecylinder 0 causes it to descend very quickly and with considerableforce, so as not only to force all of the air or water in the cylinderin- .to thecylinder B, but at the same time to close the air or waterpassage which leads through the cylinder 0 and connects it with thelarge one, B. While this piston remains down no further supply is beingdrawn from the cask or vessel to which the pumpis connected; but as thepiston in the cylinder 13 starts on its downward stroke the piston inthe second cylinder 0, and which has heretofore been stopping the air orwater passage connecting it with the large cylinder B, begins to open,and just as the piston in the cylinder 13 reaches the bottom of thecylinder the piston which has just been raised in the cylinder 0 issuddenly released, and forces out any water or air which may be in thiscylinder, and closes the air or water passage which connects it to thecylinder B. As the piston in the cylinder B again begins to rise the twopistons again draw air or water from the cask or body to which the pumpis connected.

Heret-ofore air-pumps have been provided with valves which operate veryreadily until the air has become very much rarefied; but after therarefication has reached a certain point the air will no longer operatethe valves, and hence it is impossible to form a perfect vacuum. Thisdifficulty I entirely overcome by doing away with valves of all kindsand substituting operating pistons in their place, which pistons notonly take the place of the valves, but also assist in drawing andforcing the airor water, the same as the pistons in other pumps.

As the operation of these smaller pistons is not in any way dependentupon the action of the atmosphere, it is evident that they will continueto operate as long as there is a motive power to drive the operatingshaft, and each time that the two pistons are moved together, as alreadydescribed, they draw or force a further quantity of the air from thevessel with which the pump is connected, so that a practically perfectvacuum can be formed.

So perfect and absolute is the vacuum formed by the constant operationof the three cylinders and their pistons here described, that air can beexhausted not only from fluids, but from solid bodies of all kinds.Where solid bodies, such as coins, metals, precious stones, and othersuch objects are placed in a vessel containing water, and this pump isconnected to the vessel and set in motion for the purpose of forming avacuum over the top of the water, the air will be drawn from these solidbodies placed in the bottom of the vessel, and this air will manifestitself by forming small air-bubbles upon the face of the object, and ofsuch size that the bubbles will push one another from 0d the surface ofthe article, and rise to the top of the water.

This vacuum is obtained, as stated above, by doing away with the use ofall valves which are dependent upon the pressure of the atmosphere fortheir action, and substituting there for pistons having a direct andpositive motion, which not only act as pistons but as valves at the sametime.

One of the small cylinders, (J, may be dispensed with, if so desired, inwhich case the small cylinder will be closed at its top by itsstufling-box, and the piston in this small cylinder will serve to closeboth of the airpassages which connect it with the large one. The vesselto be exhausted is attached to this cylinder just above the top of thepiston, and there is a corresponding hole made through the opposite sideof the cylinder, through which the air from the vessel being exhaustedand the small cylinder is drawn by the large piston.

Leading from the bottom of thelarge cylin-v der is an airoutlet, 0,through which all of the air drawn from the small cylinder and thevessel being exhausted is forced. The rod connected to the piston in thesmall cylinder has a loop or slot formed in its upper end, and throughthis loop or slot passes either an operating lever or a cam ontheoperating-shatt. As the piston in the large cylinder is raised upwardfrom the very bottom of the cylinder a vacuum is formed in the largecylinder, and into which the air is drawn from the small cylinder andthe vessel being exhausted. As the piston in the large cylinder reachesthe full length of its upward stroke the piston-rod connected with thepiston in the small cylinder is raised upward high enough to closerthctwo exhaust-openin gs through the sides of the small cylinder, and thusthe small piston-remains in this position while the piston in the largecylinder is making a downward stroke and forcing the air out of thelarge cylinder through the exit-opening O, which was opened just afterthe two exhaust openings through the sides of the small cylinder wereclosed. This small piston remains in its elevated po sition, closing thetwo exhaust-openings and opening the outlet 0, until the large pistonhas nearly completed its stroke, when the lever or the cam on the shaftstrikes against the lower end of the loop or slot (already referred to)and forces the small piston downward, so as to close the outlet-openingand open the two exhaust openings. This slotted pistonrod does not moveso quickly as when the piston is moved by a spring; but the twomovements are substantially the same, and may be used one for the other.

In order to make the small piston first close the exhaust-openingsbefore it opens the outlet, the bottom of the smaller cylinder is placedon a lower plane than that of the large cylinder, as shown, so as tocause the piston to move some distance before the outlet-opening isexposed at all.

The same principle is embodied in this invention that is shown in thepump represented in Figs. 1 and 2, there being no valves which aredependent upon the action of the atmosphere.

Having thus described my invention I claim- 1. In a pump, thecombination of two or more cylinders connected together, two or morepistons working therein, and an operating-shaft for working all of thepistons, one of the pistons being made to always take the place of avalve or valves, and the end or bottom of one of the cylinders beingextended beyond the end or bottom of the other, substantially as shown.

2. The combination of three cylinders which are connected together,three pistons working therein, and an operating-shaft, the two pistonsin the outer cylinders being operated-alternatel y an d made to not onlydraw and force air or water, but act as valves, the outer cylindershaving their ends extended beyond the end or bottom of the central one,substantially as shown.

3. The combination of the cylinders B 0, provided with pistons, asuitable mechanism for operating the pistons in the order described, andmeans, substantially as shown, for depressing the pistons in thecylinders O and holding them rigidly against the bottoms of thecylinders after the pistons have reached the end of their stroke,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this6th day of May, 1880.

JAY W. POWERS.

Witnesses:

F. A. LEHMANN, CHAS. H. IsHAM.

